Morning Routines & Rituals

Do you rise each morning with a game plan for the day or do you wake up playing the day by ear? Various studies have shown a huge percentile of successful entrepreneurs, business owners, millionaires, billionaires, & successful adults in general, wake up every morning with a specific routine or ritual. For some its meditation, yoga, eating a sufficient breakfast, or reading the morning news. For others it’s getting active, waking up early, setting intentions or a to-do list for the day, or affirmations. For others it a mixture & combination of some or all of these things. The list is never-ending on how many different ways these successful people start their day, every morning, that makes them ready to seize & most of their day.

According to Forbes, the late Steve Job’s would wake up every morning & ask himself, “If today was the last day of my life, would I be happy with what I’m about to do today?” What a powerful way to wake up & live, every day of your life! For many, its asking themselves these thought-provoking questions that bring them to a better understanding & clarity of how they really want to be living, investing their time, & utilizing each day. Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue, wakes up early & starts her day with an hour-long session of tennis at the New York Midtown Tennis Club. For Arianna Huffington, the Co Founder & Editor in Chief of The Huffington post, she starts her mornings with meditation, yoga, & setting her intentions for the day. Do you see a pattern here? Although there are differences in routine, one thing remains present, a routine! If waking up & inquiring within myself, “If today was the last day of my life, would I be happy with what I’m about to do today?” can help me one day become successful with an amazing legacy, you’re damn right I’m asking myself that bright & early every morning! & of course, backing every answer with nothing but focused intent & unending hard work.

Starting your day of a particular way can greatly impact your mentality, attitude, & physical well-being for the day. I’m definitely a firm believer in morning rituals & how they can impact not only your day & life, but also your success in this life. So today I wanted to share with you my particular morning routine, rituals, & mantras (affirmations). When my morning routine & rituals are interrupted, side tracked, or derailed in any way, I’m definitely extremely peeved. I mean business when it comes to my morning rituals & routines, & ultimately they bring me business, from the focus, peace, & motivation they give me.

I rarely will set a morning alarm for myself unless I have plans or something pressing I want to attend to or tackle early on in the day. I’ll usually roll out of bed around 8am, 9am at the latest. Which to me, is sleeping in. I’ve definitely grown into a morning person over the years thanks to my boyfriend & career. After getting out of bed, I’ll do my usual hygiene routine of brushing my teeth, cleansing my face, applying my skin care, & showering. Then I’ll head to the kitchen & brew up a hot cup of green tea in a favorite mug of mine. (green tea has various amazing health benefits btw) Once my tea is hot & ready, I head back to the bedroom with my iPad, a pen, & my journal. What I’ll usually do first is either play a sermon from one of my favorite pastors of all time, Joel Osteen, or I’ll play music I enjoy vibing to. (My favorite Pandora station at the moment to listen to is SZA)

Then I begin writing out my affirmations for the day. This is something I truly make time & a point to do every morning regardless of how pressed for time or stressed I am. I truly believe in affirmations, mantras, & speaking lifesaver ourselves can manifest what we desire into existence. (let me know if you’d like to see a post on creating affirmations/mantras & what some of my favorites are) After writing my affirmations, I’ll jot down a quick prayer to God for the day about what I’m hoping for, needing, or feeling. Some days my prayers are longer than others. After that depending on how much time I have, what my agenda is, & how I’m feeling deep in my heart & emotionally, I may take 5 minutes to meditate.

My favorite way to meditate at the moment is the Podcast on the Tim Ferriss Show, featuring Tony Robbins, who leads you in an extremely short but sweet meditation to remove any internal conflict or fear that reads deep in your heart. Sometimes I’ll even turn my diffuser on & use a few drops of Doterra essential oil “Serenity/calm” to flood the air & my sinuses’ while I meditate on Tony’s positive & endearing words. I’m extremely into podcasts, I’ve been so obsessed with them for the past year. (Let me know If you’d like to see a favorite podcasts post) Depending on what my agenda is on my day off I may or may not fit in a bubble bath or soak in epsom salt. (Epsom salt has great health benefits!) Taking a bubble bath or soaking this a new favorite ritual of mine I’ve integrated into my routine at least once or twice a week. No better way to relax than a warm bubble bath! After doing all these things, I feel empowered, centered, & ready to begin my day off!

On a work day my morning ritual is just slightly different, I do all my hygiene needs & routine after waking up. More often than not I get up early to get ready for work, anywhere from 5am-7am. While I get ready, doing my hair & makeup, I’ll either play a podcast from one of my favorite successful entrepreneurs or a sermon from Joel Osteen. I absolutely love listening to empowering, inspiring, mind opening, & motivating podcast while I get ready. They just speak so much life into me & get me in the right & perfect mental state to start my day. One of my favorite podcasts to listen to when I need just a hint more girl power & boss babe vibes, I’ll listen to ‘Style Your Mind’ by Cara Alwill Leyba. Once the glam is done, I usually try to arrive to work a half an hour or hour prior to my starting time. I make my way to Nordstrom’s Ebar & I ask for my usual. The barista’s there know that, that means my tall caramel iced macchiato with one shot & oatmeal with diced almonds, cinnamon, strawberries & blueberries.

Once I have my caffeine & brain food ready to go, I sit down & pull out my journal. Like my off day’s, I write down my affirmations, & prayers. I also jot down my task from priority of importance that I need to get done for the day in my productivity planner. I find that doing this helps me to hold myself accountable & accomplish more things I desire, daily. I’ll also open up my schedule book to take a peak at what I can expect & plan for later in the week as well as if I have any appointments or bookings for the day, in case anything has slipped my mind. Last but not least, I check my business numbers, targets, & how far I am from my goals then establish daily goals to help me reach my over all sales target. Once those few things are done, I’ll use the remainder of time to go through my emails, website stats, & social media feeds to catch up on anything I missed in my sleep. Just like that, I’m ready to take on the work day!

I hope you enjoyed this post! Please let me know in the comments or via social media if you’d like to see a blog post on my favorite daily affirmations or on my favorite podcasts to listen to! As always, please join my Glow Gang to receive exclusive love notes from me & notifications about new blog postings!